Memories of Winter Walk: Part 3

On the first day of December, as the first significant snow of the season blankets our little city, we continue our memories of Winter Walks past. Today, Gossips shares a memory provided by Elena Mosley, the executive director of Operation Unite and a longtime member of the Hudson Opera House Board of Directors.

Photo: axesmundi

Movement and dance have always been the highlight of Winter Walk. A "tableau" of dancers, imitating mannequins, then suddenly moving, exciting the crowd. This was the brainchild of Abby Lappen. Live dancers in the store windows. Sternfeld Newsies dancing the headlines, and, in a quick twirl, the Albany Berkshire Ballet were melting snowflakes on upper Warren Street. The big windows of 601 Warren Street and the Finnish Line across the street held the chilled onlooker back while pressed against the windows' thick glass. In the blink of an eye, community hip hop dancers flipped the crowd sixfold into the streets. From the Triform Bell Choir to Kuumba Dance and Drum, the Pleshakov Music Center [544 Warren Street] was flooded with families and folks enjoying the warmth of the Hudson movement. As the Gingerbread Man passed by Guy Apicella's quick ballroom dance shoes and the lady in the mysterious coat of hidden goodies, one looked and stuck out one's tongue for a passing dancing snowflake.